Just like citations to books and articles, data used in research deserve proper credit to ensure research integrity; it also helps others to locate the data source, which facilitate research reproducibility and increase research impact.
Same as citing publications, there are varying formats for data citation as advised by different style guides. Generally, the following components are required:
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Creator(s) | The entity responsible for creating the data |
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Title | The title of the dataset |
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Date of publication | The data that data published or otherwise released to the public |
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Publisher | The entity responsible for hosting the data (e.g. a repository) |
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Version | The data version |
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Identifier | The unique public identifier that points to the data (e.g. DOI) |
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Date Accessed | Date of accessing the dataset for reference |
Examples of data citation:
Style | Citation example | Remark | URL |
O’Donohue, W. (2017). Content analysis of undergraduate psychology textbooks (ICPSR 21600; Version V1) [Data set]. ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36966.v1 | Follow the reference example as advised in APA style. | https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/data-set-references | |
Author. Title of dataset. Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Publisher name, Date of publication (format DD Month YYYY), location. doi/url of data | The MLA Handbook does not specifically reference datasets. Use the generic format instead. | https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/ | |
Author. Title of dataset. Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Publisher name, Date of publication (format DD Month YYYY), location. doi/url of data | The Chicago manual does not specifically reference datasets. Use the generic format instead. | https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html | |
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Author. Title of dataset. Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Publisher name, Date of publication (format DD Month YYYY), location. doi/url of data | The IEEE Guide to Writing does not specifically reference Datasets. Use the generic format instead. | https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/IEEE-Reference-Guide.pdf |
4-Bromo-2-fluorotoluene. SDBSWeb. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. n.d. https://sdbs.db.aist.go.jp (accessed 2019-03-17). (CAS RN: 51436-99-8). | Follow the reference example as advised in ACS style. | https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsguide.40303 |
Reference Sites:
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